Judging from the UW-Whitewater website, it looks like we’re going all out to observe “Darwin Day.”
It’s a little unusual to have a day in honor of a person who proposed a theory. In fact, I can’t think of even one other “day” like that.
Maybe somebody feels the need to cheerlead for Darwin exactly because his theory has so many flaws.
One of Darwin’s biggest problems is that the fossil record does not show the long and gradual evolution of new species that Darwin expected to find.
Instead, about 540 million years ago, at a time that scientists call “the Cambrian explosion” or “biology’s big bang,” different types of animals appear quite suddenly (in geological time).
It’s little embarrassments like that, that have caused more than 600 scientists to sign a “Statement of Dissent from Darwin” since 2001.
Reading the university’s publicity for Darwin Day, you’d never guess that there was any controversy about the theory of evolution by natural selection. Too bad.
I thought that a university was supposed to be a place of inquiry and debate. It’s a pity that UW-Whitewater didn’t have enough intellectual honesty or respect for the student body to offer a debate rather than propaganda.
If you’re interested in hearing the other side of the story, one place to start might be: http://www.discovery.org/csc.
-Aron Kehoe
Laura • Feb 22, 2011 at 1:46 am
This Aron Kehoe must be the D. Bag who verbally assaulted me while I was at the LGBT student org. table and told me that America should establish Christianity as it’s national religion and outlaw homosexuality. It’s his kind of thinking that causes oppression, hate and just plain stupidity in the world. I prefer not to be bound by faith… rationalizing every fact that comes my way to fit within that tiny box. The quickest way to stifle thought is to introduce faith. This guy needs a wake-up call… along with millions more out there.
Not that I have a problem with people who are religious, as long as they allow themselves an open mind and some latitude of doubt with which free thought can roam.
Ozowen • Feb 17, 2011 at 8:48 pm
Utter drivel!. The whole article is simply nonsense. The Cambrian explosion took place over millions of years and although creationists love to talk about it, they completely fail to mention the PreCambrian period except to lie about there being no fossils for that period. I live in Australia, one of the world’s richest sources of pre Cambrian fossils.
You list of dissenting scientists is a yawn. Project Steve is but one response to the insinuation that scientists are leaving evolution in droves.
Creationism is a failed science, like its sister Astrology.
Get over it.
StephenBoo • Feb 17, 2011 at 10:16 am
Just very quickly Id like to address a few problems with this article.
1) Your statement about fossil evidence not supporting the theory is flat out wrong. There is a wealth stunning examples of transitional forms such as Tictalic, Archeopteryx or if you prefer human evolution Ardipithecus Ramidus, Australopithecus afarensis, homo habilis etc, even available to see yourself at museums. Even If we never found a single fossil, the genetic evidence alone would verify the theory without any serious doubt.
2) The Cambrian explosion too place over millions of years and say the emergence of many species. To imply that modern species appeared suddenly is extremely misleading indeed. This period coincided with a dramatic change in the levels of oxygen in the atmosphere enabling larger and more advanced species to develop.
3) I encourage everyone to read the wording of the dissent from Darwin list and see how ambiguous it is. it does not represent the view proposed here. Also I invite people to google project Steve which is a list of scientists only named Steve condemning this list while also being much larger.
4) There is absolutly no debate on the lagitimacy of evolution in the scientific arena. The only debates are on the proportions of influence of the mechanisms of evolution. This is misrepresented by creationists time and time again and it is extremely underhanded.
5) Th discovery institute is a melting pot of lies and misrepresentations, transparent to anyone with and education on the subject.
Soulf2 • Feb 17, 2011 at 9:03 pm
@StephenBoo
Please keep in mind that Aron is a young, devout Christian, better than average athlete that knows nothing about the 15 foundational falsehoods of creationism. You’ll note his words are nearly copy and paste with absolutely no attempt to verify the claims or give credit to their source (but he does give lip service to DI). At this moment, he is told his faith is being challenged and Darwin/evolution is the test. Public statements such as this one are his way of publicly acknowledging to his piers that he will obey without question. You can learn all this by googling his full name. In all likelihood, Aron will for the rest of his life prefer to go to church than to a natural history museum, or prefer to read a bible than a scientific study on genetic drift. We cannot save Aron from the future he has chosen, he has to come to the realization of reality on his own, if he ever does so. Until then, he only hit two of the foundational falsehoods of creationism and has thirteen more to go. I look forward to his future posts to track his progress as he attempts to get all 15. Or maybe he will watch the NOVA documentary “Intelligent Design on Trial” and come to understand the one question his prayers don’t seem to be answering.